1995 Volume 37 Issue 10 Pages 2166-2175_1
Five patients with inoperable malignant esophageal stenosis were treated by using a newly designed polyurethane-covered self-expanding metallic stent(SEMS). These polyurethane-covered SEMS were hand-made by soaking uncovered Z-stents in polyureth-one solution. The stenting was perfarmed successfully in all five patients without any severe complications. Only one patient had a chest pain which was in need of analgesics after stenting. Oral intake of food was much improved soon after the procedure. No obstruction of the stents occurred during the follow-up observations from 18 to 103 days because the stents could completely protect the ingrowth of the tumors. There were two late complica-tions recognized; the one with stent migration and the other with restenosis due to the overgrowth of the tumor, but those were released by reinsertion of new stmts. These results apparently showed that the use of polyurethane-covered SEMS was effective in the management of malignant esophageal stenosis, because of its technichal easiness, low complication rate and capability of protecting tumor ingrowth.
